Cheap flights are a perennial topic. Loss aversion drives us to seek a deal, even if it means taking a circuitous route or enduring an extra layover. I’m all for making irrational decisions, but there are a few gotchas I haven’t mentioned in previous tips around split tickets.
I’m currently working on a couple itineraries which will involve split tickets – buying a ticket from my home airport to somewhere else, then a separate ticket from that airport to my final destination. This can be a great option when you’re flying to smaller cities away from hub airports. And if you’re loyal to a particular airline alliance like SkyTeam, it’s a way to earn some points even when your final destination isn’t served by the alliance.
For most trips, the main downside of a split ticket is that you have less recourse if a flight is delayed or canceled. You’ll be on your own for rebooking, and you might be on the hook for any change fees. But there are a few other things to keep in mind, depending on your trip and circumstances.
Checked Bags
I do my very best to avoid checking bags. However, one of the trips I’m working on will be around five weeks, and will involve taking some climbing gear, so checking a bag might be unavoidable. Checked bags can make split tickets a lot more complicated, as your bag won’t make the connection automatically.
Instead, you’ll need to retrieve your bag from baggage claim, and recheck it. That’ll almost always mean going through security. If it’s an international destination, you’ll probably have to clear customs and immigration – possibly twice. With that in mind, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of time between flights – minimally three hours, ideally more.
Surprise Visas
The other potential gotcha is that you may need to enter a country you weren’t expecting to. For example, to get to baggage claim, you generally need to clear immigration. And most low cost carriers fly out of separate terminals (or even separate airports) requiring you to officially enter a country, even if you’re not dealing with checked baggage.
If you’re flying to Europe, you’ll generally clear immigration at your initial point of entry, so there’s no extra hassle from a split ticket. But if you’re flying to Malaysia via Hanoi on a split ticket (as we did last year), you’ll need a valid Vietnamese visa in order to retrieve your luggage and check in for your onward flight. That can be a rude surprise if you’re not expecting it, especially in countries (like Vietnam) which don’t have a visa-on-arrival program.
Generally it’s all workable, but you need to do your research. Some countries offer transit visas, and some airports offer a service which will collect and recheck your baggage for you, so you can remain “airside”. If you need a full visa, the cost may outweigh the savings of your split ticket.
Other Hiccups
One other area worth researching ahead of a split ticket flight is any potential rule differences between the airlines you’re flying. For example, if you’ve booked an onward flight with a low cost carrier, do you need to pre-purchase a baggage allowance? Do they have stricter rules about the weight of carry-on baggage? Running into issues like that won’t usually derail a trip, but it might eat up any savings from your clever booking. That was the reason we had to check baggage when transiting in Vietnam last year – our very cheap flight from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur had strict carry-on limits. We knew that in advance, and had planned for it.
Finally, be absolutely sure you know which airports you’re flying into and which you’re flying out of – transits in Tokyo, London, and New York can easily catch you out. Nobody wants to land in JFK and discover their onward flight is from Newark. Honestly, nobody wants to discover their flight is in Newark, regardless of the circumstances. Do your research, make good choices.